No threepeat weekend as Metros, Dukes and Hove all win crowns

Shows what I know about British baseball. In the first weekend of the BBF’s National Baseball Championships (#bbfnbc on Twitter), none of the favourites delivered the performances that would have earned them the titles, while leaving egg on my face having picked the three runners-up to win in the preview just a week ago.

Single-A

The format for the Single-A competition was such that the semi-finals and finals were played on Saturday, with Haverhill Blackjacks taking on Herts Raptors and London Marauders facing Richmond Dukes in seven-inning games in the morning, with the winners going through to a final at 3pm.

Haverhill had almost a full-strength team and, as I’d predicted, that was enough for them to come through against the Herts Raptors, who fought valiantly and tied the game at 6-apiece in the penultimate inning, but ran into pitching struggles and let in four in the seventh as the second-seeds went down swinging.

Next door, Richmond Dukes raced away to a 13-1 lead at one stage after capitalising on errors aplenty in the first frame from the London Marauders. In order to save pitching for the final, they made a couple of changes, but this allowed the Marauders back into the contest. However, the deficit was too much to make up in the seven-inning game (all season the sides have been playing single nine-inning matches), and so a comeback, although threatened, never materialised.

That meant that the final was between the lowest-ranked teams that qualified for the playoffs, but the shocks weren’t over yet. Packed full of Americans from regional air force bases, Haverhill would have fancied their chances, but Richmond – who last season failed to win a game on the diamond – had other ideas and were the first 2013 National Champions as they edged a 15-14 thriller as twilight approached.

My prediction was that the Blackjacks would prevail. 0-1 at this stage.

AA

On Saturday the Guildford Mavericks made their first NBC appearance since losing the Single-A final in 2010, but though they’ve won 80% of their games since then, they couldn’t find an answer to Hull Scorpions’ Gavin Marshall. The BBHoF member and former professional kept the Mavericks to just two runs – one coming from Pawel Acagki’s solo homer to give them a brief lead – and the Scorpions eventually won with a walk-off walk in the eighth to finish the game early.

Across the field, Hove Tuesday also then picked up a win via the mercy rule over the Harrogate Tigers. Harrogate, missing regular ace Masa Koshien, also struck first blood and took an early lead, but Hove’s Thomas Izuta settled down and through seven innings allowed just four runs. He helped claw them back, too, but Jinman Park was Hove’s biggest hitter as they also booked their place in the final – despite changing from the third diamond to the main field as the sun came down over the horizon, causing problems for players and officials alike.

The final, then, saw the AA North winners, Hull, against AA South winners Hove, and as would be suggested by their earlier matches in the tournament, it would go down to the wire. Veterans Andy Wilshire and Andy Wilson got the starts, with Hull’s Wilshire eventually being chased after three innings. Hove pulled away, Hull just about keeping within 10, but despite taking it down to the last at-bat, the Scorpions would have needed a miracle. Wilson notched 12 Ks and also picked off the runner at second base to record the final out as they rebounded from losing the Single-A final last year to winning the AA crown in 2013.

My prediction was Hull to win. Now 0-2. Could this be a slump?

AAA

The major disappointment from the AAA semi-finals was that they, too, were less competitive than they should have been. In the early start, the Liverpool Trojans comfortably swept aside the Halton Jaguars en route to their fourth consecutive final, keeping hopes of a threepeat alive. Starter Mario Escobedo rarely looked troubled for the Trojans, while Halton’s Mitch Cross – one of only a handful of pitchers to have beaten Liverpool in the last few years – couldn’t get the ball past the Trojans’ bats with regularity.

The honour of upsetting the Trojans’ bid ultimately fell to the London Metros, making their first NBC appearance in four years. Up against Cambridge Royals, the East Anglians were without ace pitcher Doug Grabowski and turned instead to Brett Curran – by no means a bad thing, as he’d almost delivered them an NBC semi-final win just 12 months ago. However, the Metros’ bats went ballistic and found gaping holes in the Cambridge outfield, walking off after six and a half innings with a 16-2 win.

No-one would have bet against Martin Godsall pitching his third consecutive championship win for the Trojans, except the hardiest of Metros fans, but the veteran was hit out of the game by the top of the sixth as London threatened to slaughter their esteemed opponents. A horror injury to Harry Wren forced a change that manager Rob Alger wouldn’t have wanted to make, but the Trojans led 5-3 after two innings before the onslaught began. 12 unanswered runs, including an inside-the-parker from Johan Villaneuva, gave London a ten-run lead, which was plenty. John Gill watched strike three fly through the middle of the zone as he was the Trojans’ last out in their unsuccessful bid to treble-defend their title.

Surely it can’t be that I am now 0-3 following my backing of the Trojans? Time to call in the mind doctors to snap me out of this funk…

The weekend ahead

The London club can add another three titles to their mantelpiece this weekend as the NBL, Under-17 and Under-14 teams descend on Farnham Park for the second week of the #bbfnbc, including the #bbfynbc (Youth National Baseball Championships).

I already predicted that the Mets would win the NBL title, the first time since they won back-to-back championships in 07-08, and their junior teams enter the YNBCs as the top seeds in their age brackets. Last year the Cobham Yankees surprised the Mets Under-17 to stop them completing an historic treble, while the Under-14s have won their regional league for seven consecutive seasons and will hope to defend their national crown this weekend too.

However, for the senior sides it’ll be difficult to look past Harlow Nationals winning a third consecutive championship despite their tough semi-final opponents, this year’s NBL winners Herts Falcons. The Mets have the edge over the Southampton Mustangs in the other semi-final, but all teams will have to raise their game if they want to parade around this winter under the moniker ‘National Champions of Great Britain’.

Whatever happens, it’ll be a fun weekend with plenty of energy as first the kids and then the top senior teams in the country take to the field to close out the 2013 competitive domestic calendar. (Plus some good food, great company and the chance to enjoy some fantastic baseball and raise money for the Great Britain baseball programme too.)